I,m not sure if it was the fact that I went into a 99 cent store in National City next to the Walmart and saw an EPT ( Early Pregnancy Test) on a shelf right next to a box of condoms that had six condoms per box. Or if it was all this hoopla about this swine flu that we have no cure for and our only defense is to wash our hands and stay away from anybody that looks weird or has a cough. Oh yeah’ steer clear of kids and young people, so I guess now is the time to visit and hang out with that elderly aunt or uncle you been ducking. Then again, it could be the fact that for the past eight years I saw clearly what the people with money and the true powers that rule the world can do and how helpless “ We the People” really are. I saw a president that didn’t lie,” well not much anyways”. He did exactly what he said he was going to do. He clearly stated on national television that all his friends were rich and he was going to take care of his friends. What part of that statement did we not understand? And we actually think he was dumb and some people even feel sorry for him while his friends are still getting richer with this war that we can’t get out of and this stimulus package that he initiated and planned years ago. And most people believe that this was some kind of accident. Oh well it ain’t all his fault, I mean how much power does a president actually have? The Oil, Auto and Drug companies run this show and control the media and the media manipulate the masses. This is a fact, How many people do you know that actually have the “swine flu” . Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that it’s a sham or some funny business going on. The media, the internet, television, radio, are great for things like warnings of natural disasters like hurricanes ,snow storms and stuff like that and we have grown to trust people that we see on television. But it can also be used to manipulate and spread propaganda like the story about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, or Osama Bin Laden living in a cave and cannot be found. Or even the Gas prices being inflated by mysterious investors and then miraculously going down when a new president is elected.
In any case I’m just a regular Old school dude, and I know things about this country and the government that’s better off not being said. Let’s face it ‘Who really and truly wants to know what’s actually in a “Hot Dog”? You’ll just ask for a beef one and hope it really has some part of a cow in it and scarf it down. And do you really care that the same people that are polluting the water, are the same people that are selling bottled water. Yes my friends” Ignorance is Bliss” and “Power is corrupt”, and “absolute power” is “corrupt absolutely”. Now, after having stated those witty phrases, I guess it’s time to get back to my story. The fact of the matter is, I have been having dreams and “ok” for a better word ,visions of how I see the future and yes I am an “Ol school Trekkie”.

But based on how far we have come as a nation and a planet since 1909 I have tried to envision what the world will be like 200 years from now and yes I firmly believe that mankind will survive all the greed and diseases that are natural and man-made . So a couple of hundred years from now there will still be a world with people on it,mainly because the Capitalist will still be dominant and every capitalist knows that its senseless to have a suit case full of money in the middle of a deserted Island .

So I keep having this corny dream about this kid living in the 23rd century and a dog and maybe it’s because I have been going door to door for the past several years in several different states either selling goods, charity work or doing surveys. And for the past five years I have been going door to door as far east as Santee, as far south as San Ysidro, and as far north as Camp Pendelton. And this is a fact I have never seen so many dog owners in any other city. Some cities outlaw owning Pit Bulls but you would never know that based on the amount of Pits that are here in Southern California.

However, based on my guess-timation and eyeball account. I would say that there are more Chihuahua’s than any other breed of dog in Southern California. Anyway it’s the middle of the 23rd century and the ozone is pretty much gone and the world is protected by a man made gaseous shield that’s protecting the planet from the sun. All light is artificial and the weather is actually controlled by the weather bureau and it varies based on the region.

A geneticist developed a virus that killed all the malaria carrying mosquitoes which ultimately saved millions of lives in poor and underdeveloped countries. Malaria disappeared along with the mosquitos. But there was an unforeseen side effect which began killing small animals. It was the same airborne virus that was used for the mosquitoes that mutated because of the dissolving ozone. At least that’s what was said. The star of this story is Freddy and he is 9 years old and like all kids that age (some things never change) He wants to outdo his friends and be the coolest kid on the block. Freddy lives in sector 79 of the San Diego region which is now called the Kearny Mesa area.

It’s here!!!”Yesssss” Shouted Freddy as he watched the Fedups hover van began docking in front of his house. He began thinking about what he was going to say to Billy Thompson and Jaden Alvarez with their old fossil fueled combustion engine go-carts and scooters. Which they charged everybody money just to ride around the block, and then there is Adrienne Smith, with his antique trampoline that was discontinued over a hundred years ago also his fossil fueled remote controlled dual propeller airplane which was also over a hundred years old and then there is Theresa Cummings with her collection of antique lap tops and programs which was just as good or better than the ones at the William Gates Museum. Which is where I saw my first live dog, It was a German Shepherd and one of maybe 2000 dogs in the whole world and it was in a closed environment.

Even though it was a few years ago I still remembered when the Female Holo-speaker was explaining the sad story that caused all the small animals to become extinct. The Holo-speaker said that before 2095 there were millions of different species of birds, animals and insects. but because of an error made by a Bio-Geneticist the atmosphere became poisonous to all small animals. The scientist experimenting with DNA cloning and artificial enzymes developed a gas that would kill mice and rats. which was very successful in the beginning and used in small area’s, but the gas did not dissipate as expected , instead it mutated into an airborne virus that attacked the pulmonary muscles of cats and dogs at first then just about every living bird or mammal under fifty pounds then the reptiles and insects. The animals in the Seattle Sector were the last to go because of the cloud cover.

The reason everybody thought it was safe was because they had done the same thing with mosquito’s with no repercussions. But now after all those years Bio-engineers and geneticists at Cyberpet are using DNA from actual living dogs and has developed a heart that is not made totally of flesh but will grow and function like a natural heart the only difference is, that it will have a micro-battery with a twenty year life. All of the puppies are artificially incubated and until two months old then they are cryogenically suspended- (frozen) until they are purchased, then they are activated.

They are then given your voice commands that you send in with your deposit that will be programmed into the animals subconscious such as sit, stop, come, fetch, or any number of simple commands and the words you will use even though he will not fully understand all of the commands until the animal is at least six months old. The actual scientific name for the animal is a Cyborgenetic Canine or (CK9) after I read the communicae and all the specifications I knew I had to have one and I wanted one that looked exactly like Lassie from the old 1960 movies. Only I wanted a boy instead of a girl and I named it Laddie.

I knew I would probably be the only kid in the San Diego Sectors with a real live dog for a pet. But I had a couple of problems, I had to not only get my parents permission to have a pet but also get them to buy it for me too, for 150,000.00. So I asked my father if I could have a dog and told him about the (CK9) and he said sure if I was totally responsible for it and my mother said it was ok and then he asked how much did it cost and I said only 150,000.00 and he choked and said “that’s out of the question.” “For that price,” Freddy I don’t think so, we simply can’t afford it. Then I said “suppose I pay for it with my own money” and he said “you don’t have that kind of money”. I can work and earn it, doing what? “You’re only nine years old” he said. I’m old enough for a work permit, so if I can get the money myself, can I have it? Sure “he said” if you raise the money yourself it’s ok by me, but you still have to get your mothers permission. So I then went to mom and asked her. she said to ask dad and I told her he said it was ok by him if I paid for it and then I told her that it cost 150,000.00. (she started smiling and asked) How are you going to pay for it? and I said, I would get a job after school. And she said, “I tell you what I will do, if you get a job and raise the money for it then we will see. “Ok”?

So the next day I spammed the communicae for our sector and placed notices on the schools bulletins and received three hits. Two for a playmate which is like a babysitter for another kid around your age for 100.00 an hour and another for the worst job a kid can have and its always open “Sensor Maintenance Person” and it only pays 2000.00 per week the job description states that the employee must live within sector 79 and must be at least 8 years old and would have to clean and maintain yard sensors for 250 units and also report any foreseeable problems with the scapedroids as necessary and would take approximately 2 hours per day 7 days a week employee will be unsupervised but remotely monitored. So I responded to the notice and told mom and dad about it and they said that it would take a couple of years to save up enough and I said fine, three days later I had the job. So for months I worked as a sector 79 maintenance person also worked as a playmate or baby sitter, and the money just wasn’t coming like I had hoped and after nine months with all my savings and earnings I only had 67,453.00.

I had just turned 10 years old and I was getting really tired of that job and not hanging out with my friends, and even thought of all the other stuff I could buy with the money I had saved but I just couldn’t get Laddie out of my mind. I kept thinking about taking him with me on my route in the mornings before school which is the best time to clean the sensors since they are still wet from the morning rain. So school let out which meant I could do more babysitting and hopefully be able to buy Laddie within a year. But something unusual happened that summer in Sector 313 the temperature is a constant 72 degrees Fahrenheit with an inch of rain every morning between 4am and 5am but for some reason we had an atmospheric shield malfunction which caused hail to fall instead of rain and this happened for a week before it was repaired but the damage was unbelievable the vegetation was damaged at every unit and all the scapedroids were misaligned and even some sensors were damaged and needed replacement and since the whole sector was my responsibility I got the contract to do all alignments and repairs at the premium cost (Premium Adult Rates) and since it was being paid by the insurance company I was guaranteed payment so I bought an alignment program and hired Wilbur Yates the kid that had the job before me and we replaced a few plants realigned and repaired the sensors and put everything back on track I also paid him 150.00 per hour and in two months I had a check for 122,000.00 in my hand.

I immediately placed a call to Cyber pet to order Laddie and per the communicate I sent a deposit of 50,000 and two weeks later at school I got the Fedups alert on my combracelet at school every half hour requesting confirmation of physical parcel receipt which meant I had to ditch school and go home early so I did, and finally after all that work and all those days of waiting I saw laddie on the cart from the door way and it was all I could do to keep from running out to the street and grabbing him out of the carrier.

But I waited until all of the large boxes and the carrier was placed in side by the Fedups hoverbot and just when I was going to hand my debit card to the bot –my bracelet made a familiar ping it was Mom or just as bad it was Mom.s holoform and she was pissed ‘ Fredrick Eugene Laney what do you think you are doing I said Uh Umm I, I, “why aren’t you in school”? I said Uh, Uh, Mom I just came home to pick up Laddie” Freddy you know better, you did not discuss this with me and we agreed that when you raised the money we would talk about it” then the Bot started requesting payment by charge or cash – Freddy you’re going to have to send it back ” his mother said. And in my whiniest voice with tears forming in my eyes, I said “Mom please let me keep him, I’ll do anything you want” and like magic we both heard the most awful and unusual sound we had ever heard before, Laddie started screaming like he was in pain and mom and the bot both said at the same time “get him out of the cart”. So I picked up Laddie, out of the cart and it looked nothing like Lassie at all, it was a small ball of fur with eyes like button’s a black nose and a tongue that was lapping at my tears. He stopped crying immediately and again I said “please mom”. She said “ok but we will talk more when I get home” then disappeared.

So I paid the Bot, and begin opening the boxes and taking inventory while laddie was still trying to lick my face even more than he did when mom was present. After checking all the contents of the boxes and even getting a Frisbee circa 1966, chew toys, balls, leashes, numerous info programs and special food formula’s. There was just a few items that has no instructions and has me puzzled. It is a small shovel or spade shaped object and several boxes of clear plastic gloves and plastic bags.